Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

first day of school. it was a sunny wednesday morning, ideal for all the children in clayhill. it was officially school season, meaning that many children were going to begin their school journey.

Y/N was one of those children. she was excited as she got up, excited as she changed, excited as she got ready. but when she had to actually go to school, butterflies started flowing into her tummy. a sense of nervousness flooded her head, making her dizzy.

her mother, whom was excited to have silence for once, assured her it was going to be all fine. she explained that going somewhere new could be worrying, but she'd eventually end up liking it.

she took her mother's advice to heart, and ignored the uneasy feeling. the whole trip to school, she and her mom laughed about past adventures they'd had. she laughed and enjoyed the time she had with her mother at the moment.

until she arrived. the tall building towered over her, it looked menacing. she quietly tired to back down, but her mother held onto her hang tightly.

“remember what i told you, Y/N." she'd said, voice firm with command. Y/N let out a sigh, puffing her chest out. she was gonna do this. she carefully walked towards the building, carrying her pink-and-blue backpack with matching lunchbox.

her mom couldn't help but let you a small smile grow on her lips. she laughed a little, and caught up to Y/N.

-

on the inside of the building, there was people everywhere. there was moms, dads, children, teachers. there were people who were guides for others. it was absolute chaos.

Y/N's mother was carrying a paper with the childs teacher name and classroom, mr. morrison, classroom number 635. there were small signs everywhere indicating where certain classes were, so her mother looked for the 600-699 classroom category.

finally, she spotted the sign. it was an arrow which pointed to the east side of the plot. Y/N's mom grabbed her little child hand, and walked to that direction. Y/N was in absolute shock at the school.

it was giant, containing so many people. she observed how they behaved, wanting to behave the same way. older students made their ways to their new classrooms, but unlike Y/N, most of them knew where they were.

-

they arrived at the 635 classroom door, and they were greeted by an… odd-looking teacher. he was a tall, lanky figure, who wore glasses that were too big for his face. he was wearing a colorful sweater, embroidered with smiley faces and rainbows.

his smile showed off al his teeth, which were perfectly straight and pearly white. it was kind of creepy though.

he greeted Y/N, saying, "oh my gosh, hi! goodmorning! what's your name, cutie?"

Y/N grinned "Y/N!" she exclaimed, excitement filling her voice. her mother smiled.

he seemed to mark a check on his clipboard, which he took out of nowhere. he smiled. "great! welcome to the class, Y/N! by name is mr. morrison and i'll be your kindergarten teacher." he signaled over to the classroom.

"you see that desk with your name? go put all your new stuff there while i talk to mom, alrighty?" she quickly complied, running as fast as her little legs took her. he chuckled, then looked at her mom.

"hello, ms…?" she smiled. "L/N." she answered simply.

"ah, well it's nice to meet you, ms, L/N." he stretched a hang out and Y/N's mom shook it.

"i dont really have to say much." he sighed. "i have everything i need on file. ill contact you if anything happens with Y/N."

Y/N's mom nodded, said goodbye and left.

-

as kids slowly started piling in, the first bell had rung, meaning that whoever arrived to school after that, was late.

the classroom door was closed, allowing nobody in anymore. it was fine anyways, nobody was late on the first day of school.

until a knock was heard. all the children lifted their heads up from their work, looking at the small window on the door. you could make out a pale child, but not much more.

mr. morrison was as shocked as everyone else, but got up to open the door.

when he got up, headed for the door, one could hear sniffling. it was definitely a child, no less.

mr. morrison made it to the door, turning the knob. Y/N looked over his shoulder. the pale boy was looking down. his view was fixed on his white shoes, that looked brand new.

the male teacher crouched down to get to the boys level. he whispered something, something that could've been mistaken for a 'goodmorning' greeting.

the boy picked his head up, as if he'd heard his name being called his name. whatever it was, that is.

sniffling was heard again, and small whines accompanied with it. the teacher smiled at him, saying "c'mon bud. let's go find you a seat."

-

'the seat' was a desk right next to Y/N. she hadn't even noticed it was there, until the small boy sat next to her.

she was finishing up the introduction that the teacher had told the class to finish, when the small boy whined.

"a-are you okay?" she stuttered. this caused the boy to look at her, eyes glassy from all the crying.

sniffling, he replied, "y-yeah..."

she tilted her head, looking directly at him, "a-are you sure? you don't seem alright..."

he nodded. "i-i'm okay... thank you."

she got up from her seat, and simply hugged him. his scent was... particular. he smelled like smoke, cigarettes.

the hug certainly took him by surprise, as his body flinched. it was awkward for him, because, at home, he'd never received anything like this.

he placed his hands on her arms, which were wrapped around his neck.

"you're gonna be okay." she said, letting go of him. she sat on her seat, asking him, "what's your name?"

he cracked a smile, his ingrowing teeth showing.

"my name is doi...!" he couldn't help but let out a small sign of exclamation at the end of his sentence.

it made Y/N laugh. "my name is Y/N. nice to meet you, doi! i love your name. it is very unique." she smiled.

the boy - doi - blushed slightly. at home, his name was a curse. the only time his father would mention his name, it would be used to make fun of him, or to complain about him.

-

snack time had arrived. Y/N and doi were lined up, Y/N with her lunchbox ready, as so was doi.

mr. morrison led them onto the playground, and they got to observe the older kids through the small windows on the doors.

the playground was huge. there was a slide, multiple swings, and a sandbox. Y/N's face brightened up at the view of the playground, while doi just stood there she grabbed his hand, absentmindedly, and proceeded to run.

Chapter Text

as doi followed close behind Y/N, his breath hitched.

he couldn't run. his asthma was coming onto play. on the first day of school?!

he tried to send some sort of signal to the girl, but she wouldn't take anything onto account, until, eventually, she slowed down and stopped.

they caught their breath, Y/N laughing it off. they looked like they just ran a mile.

doi looked up at them, eyes widened. his breathing came out labored. this made the little girl uneasy, had she hurt him?

"doi, are you okay?" she gasped, placing her hands on his small back. he held up a small finger, indicating for her to wait. she frowned.

a minute later, his breathing normalized. it no longer came out raspy, but it was now balanced.

he looked at Y/N, "yeah, im fine."

Y/N gave him the same look. "im sorry for running. i didn't know it stressed you out so much."

his face turned into a small smile. "it's okay. my dad does the same thing. except he knows. so i'm used to it by now." his voice trembled a small bit.

she grinned. they were tiny humans. she didn't know what it meant.

Y/N signaled at their lunchboxes. "let's eat?"

doi laughed and sat down on the grass, Y/N not far behind. they dug into their snacks.

-

'RIIIIIING!'

the ringing of the bell snapped doi out of his math thoughts. he got up, packed up his stuff in his bag and left.

he realized it was lunchtime, so he headed towrds the lunchroom, followed and led by a bunch of teenagers.

the mass of people flooded the cafeteria, leaving barely any space to walk. this wasn't a huge problem though, he went outside to eat lunch. he didn't like to be stuck inside with so many people. reminded him of roy.

he quietly got his food and exited as soon as he possibly could. the chatter and gossip that they shared unnecessarily loud.

he got outisde, teachers and students passing him by, eager to eat their lunch. they eyed his pizza, which made him walk with more intent to get out of there.

the small of outside flooded his nostrils, making him smile immediately. quickly, he got to his eating place, sitting down.

the grass below and beside him reminded him of the first day of preschool. the sun was warming his back, similar to the feeling of a certain hand patting it.

he ate his lunch in silence, not even bothering to take out his books or phone. his gaze was quickly fixed on the ground, where he could make out shapes.

a couple minutes later, the sun stopped shining over him. instead, it was replaced by a shadow.

he lifted his head up in surprise, in shock to see who it was.

-

"Y/N!" he exclaimed, the change of mood unmissable.

the girl smiled and sat down next to him, there was no need to invite her.

"hello, doi." she said, adjusting her tray and setting down her backpack. "how's life?"

he sighed. his expression dropped faster than my grades. life wasn't going that well. ever since he moved in with robin and harry, his foster dads, robin always had an internal hate for him.

even though he never really said anything, the tension and the ambience was evident.

harry, on the other hand, was very supporting of doi and most of his actions. he defended doi most of the times he had an arguemnt with robin, sometimes he just decided to not do that.

robin constantly said that doi was recipe to ruin his and harry's marriage, to what doi had responded with "then you should've never toook me in. should've left me with roy."

this counter-arguement took the couple by surprise, it even took doi by surprise. he'd never talked back to any of them, especially harry.

but he'd had enough. it wasn't fair that wherever he went, his name was cursed or hated. this bothered him. and what bothered him most though, was that he couldn't do anything about it.

-

"um, things could go better…?" he suggested. it was more of a question than an answer, but Y/N took it.

she sighed and looked down. she examinated the ground for a second, looked back up.

"doi. i've known you since kindergarten," she put an emphasis on kindergarten, "i know your good and bad habits, i know you, most importantly. why are you lying to me?"

he grimaced. shit, she was actually kinda good. doi bit his lip, trying to think of something to say, but as soon as he opened his mouth,

'RIIIIIIING!'

"dammit," the girl said. "we will continue this another time." she playfully gave him a look, making fun of one of the teachers.

he smiled and she got up and left. he, once again, looked down at his tray.

his pizza. he never ate it.

"man. i wanted that pizza." he muttered as he got up and raced to throw it in the trash and go to his next class.

maybe he'll save the pizza and eat it in class. he probably will. doi loves pizza.

Chapter Text

(a/n: hey lovelies! i got my kindle back after begging for it back. i also regained a lot of writing motivation, so expect updates. love you all and thank you for being so patient! stay safe!)

doi did eat is pizza in class, but resulted in him getting screamed at by dr. davis, the school's principal.

goddamn his history teacher. she always had to go and be a bloody blabbermouth.

if it weren't for her, he would be walking home right now. not sitting in the detention room after school.

he could be home now, resting on his bed. eating. literally doing anything productive.

but no. he was sat here, doing absolutely nothing.

it was absolutely ridiculous.

he decided to rest his head. so, he placed it on the desk, facing a nearby window.

teenagers and teachers going into their cars, others walking, others taking a bus.

they all got to go home.

'ugh.' he thought, grimace on his face.

he turned his head so that now he faced a wall.

it was more interesting, honestly.

he could make out figures on the walls, like clouds.

except they wouldn't move.

this was a talent he'd gained over years of going to the local police station when he was a very young child.

he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

it was one of those memories. those memories you have and barely remember because you were so young.

he remembers the sound of screaming, police sirens, crashing, braking. overall, chaos.

the memory of sitting on a chair multiple times, seeing a woman argue with a police officer.

the memory of not understanding, so looking for some sort of comfort. someone that could go up and explain what on earth was happening.

but no one did.

so he hid. he hid away from his problems. from the things he didn't understand.

but he couldn't hide forever.

so he peeked his head out.

he didn't want to look at the things happening in front of him, so little doi turned his head.

the gray walls he turned to were boring.

they had no charm. they had no detail. they had… nothing.

yet, somehow, someway, doi found comfort in them.

he couldn't explain why, or when, or even how.

it was difficult to say, how such a tiny person could find comfort in such a crazy manner.

but he did.

he also found out that the walls had bumps on them.

the closer he looked, there seemed to be shapes of… animals, and people!

the people and animals disappeared when he blinked, though.

so he kept his eyes open for as long as the kid could.

he pieced together small stories with the walls.

a person feeding a giraffe.

feeding it fish.

it didn't make sense.

he thought it was funny.

so he laughed.

-

doi unlocked his house door, as quietly as he could.

he carefully took off his shoes, leaving them on the rack and putting on his crocs.

he crept into the kitchen. it was… oddly quiet.

no sounds of the tv, music, not even talking.

the kitchens dim light was on, and both of his dads cars were parked inside the garage.

doi opened the fridge door.

his parents had bought pizza, and they had saved him a slice.

hawaiian pizza. his favorite.

he opened the microwave, setting the plate and timer for one minute.

during the minute, he went up to his room, as quietly as one could.

they set his bag on his bed, and got their pijamas out from under his pillow.

he placed them on top of his bed, leaving them ready for him to change after he was done with dinner.

as he was going back down for his pizza, he passed through his dads bedroom.

they were speaking quietly, but he could make out a name.

his own name.

somehow, harry had seen his shadow pass by.

he has asked them to please come in, so that they could speak about something.

doi felt his blood leaving his face.

he'd responded with, "gimmie a sec, my food is warming up."

-

after eating, he had no other choice than go to his parents bedroom.

harry had pulled out a chair from his desk, and doi sat there, bouncing his knee.

he looked down at his crocs, the floor. he tried to get distracted with something.

he felt both of his dads gaze cast on him.

harry spoke up first.

"so, doi. how's, uh, school going?" he asked, a very small smile on his face.

doi looked up at him.

"i- uh, it's going well, i believe."

"you believe?" robin had his eyebrows raised in shock.

"n-no," doi corrected himself, "i know."

"ah. so then care to explain what you were doing that caused you to arrive so… late?"

"um, well. there was study hall today, and i needed to work on my his-"

"doi, kid," harry interrupted, "there's no need to lie."

doi was caught red handed. he didn't lie often. so his parents would know when he actually was.

doi sighed. he muttered something and looked at robin.

"what was that?" robin asked.

doi kept on muttering, but louder now, as if he was talking to himself.

"kid. speak up. please." harry pleaded.

doi sighed in defeat.

"i had detention." he simply said.

robins eyes widened. harry gasped.

doi knew he was in trouble.

after a moments of awkward silence, robin said something.

"doi." he rubbed his temple. "you do know that detention is kept on your permanent school record, right?"

"yes. yes, i know."

"and you do know that it'll also be on your permanent work record, right?"

doi blinked.

he didn't know that.

he'd fucked up on this one.

Chapter Text

"did you ever sleep last night?" asked Y/N, carefully brushing her hair. she had woken up late, so now, she was getting ready inside the school library.

"no. i did not. in fact, im yawning cause im crazy." he answered. the sarcasm was obvious in his voice. Y/N had never seen him so goddamn cranky.

she looked at him. she was now putting lip gloss on, looking at herself through her little carry-on mirror. "don't speak to me like that. i was just asking."

the girl went back to finish putting on her gloss, as doi responded with, "now, you're acting like my parents."

"okay…? i was making a point." she argued back. it was 8 in the morning. she really wasn't in the mood for fighting today, but hey, she isn't gonna let herself be disrespected.

doi rolled his eyes and got up from the desk he sat in. he grabbed his bag and dipped. he had left her standing there, arms crossed.

she was not gonna chase after him. why would she? after all, it wwasn't er acting like a bitch. she woke up nice today. unlike him. whatever had happend to him, wasn't an excuse for how he was treating her.

-

harry pulled up to his son's school, parking his car on the, "guest" spot. he carefully got out, closing his door and walking onto the entrace. he buzzed on the doorbell, and the security system let him in.

he was led onto a hallway, in which he walkedinto. at the end of the said hallway, was a door with a golden doorknob. he pulled the doorknob, revealing an office behind the door.

he stepped in, careful not to create a distraction. he approached the front desk, a blonde lady talking to someone on the phone.

she seemed to be discussing something important, so he waited until she was done. once she was done, she greeted him.

"hello, sir. what may i do for you?" her voice had a slight accent to it. she seemed nice. her smile was kinda crooked though.

harry smiled back as best as he could. "hello. i have a meeting with the principal." he said. the lady nodded and asked for his name.

"harry. harry stanford." he said. the lady thanked him and asked him to please take a seat. that she'd escort him when the principal was ready.

he nodded and sat down on one of the nearby chairs. he got his phone out and texted his husband.

-

Harry: hi love. im at the school. where are you?

-

It took Robin a small while to respond. But eventually, he did. In all honesty, he wasn't surprised it took Robin a whole 10 minutes to answer.

-

Robin: Hello. I am arriving right at this moment. Did you sign in yet?

Harry: yes. yes i did. pls hurry

-

Harry tapped his foot against the wooden floor, glancing at his phone periodically. On the fourth check, someone walked into the office. It was Robin. Thank god.

As soon as he arrived, the secretary admitted Harry in. Harry had chuckled and led his husband with him. He thanked her and walked towards the office.

-

"Mr. Harry and Mr. Robin. Such a pleasure to finally meet you both." Said the principal, motioning for them to take a seat. They both nodded and took a seat, Robin holding onto Harry's hand.

The principal sighed. Hevstarted ou by saying, "Doi is a wonderful student. His work is always neat, turned in on time and nicely done. It doesn't surprise me, now that I've seen his dads, and I can tell that both of you care deeply for your child's education." A pause.

Robin took a mental note of that. Just in case.

Continuing, "Those have always been Doi's much noticeable features, but his teachers have been noticing a slight… decline. He has been turning in work, but it's either not on time, or it's very, very floppy." His choice of words were interesting.

He said that Doi's work is one of his most defining features. What does he mean by that?

"The school knows that the students have privacy, yes, but we've decided to do a little… digging." The princial was suggesting that they'd probably gone through files that did not concern them.

Harry excused himself. "Digging on what, if I may? Our child does have a history, but we'd rather in stays family only."

The wording made the principal lose his balance, and he started stuttering out excuses.

That's what made Harry himself uneasy. The school was digging into private family files. Oh, no. He was not going to allow that. He was going to do everything in his power to switch Doi's school. He really didn't want this to be the environment Doi spent his last years of school in.